Book Review: The Worst Person in the World

Keith Olbermann, anchor of the hit news program Countdown, has written his first book, Worst Person in the World. And let me tell you, if you like reading about the stupidity of government, criminals and everyday people, not to mention hypocrisy, this is the book for you. I should come clean before I start that I was a fan of Olbermann from his days as an anchor on SportCenter.

Olbermann prefaces his book by talking about how there are real evil people in the world, serial killers, rapists, and dictators, and they are all worse than anyone in his book. But it takes a special kind of stupidity to make it into this book. Every weekday on his broadcast he chooses three people to be the worst persons of the world.

Like the guy who was drunk and his friend wouldn't let him drive home so he did what any of us would do: he shot his friend.

Or the folks at Austin Community College in Texas who denied Carl Basham in-state tuition because he hadn't been spending enough time in the state to qualify. This is, of course, true; you see, Carl was a member of the US Army and had served two tours in Iraq.

Or Rush Limbaugh who said "Cindy Sheehan is just like Bill Burket; her story is full of forged documents. There's nothing about it that's real." Writer's note - Sheehan's son was killed in Iraq.

Limbaugh and his friends at Faux News are among the many multiple recipients. In fact, Olbermann goes after Bill O'Reilly the most. Bill especially gets it, he just can't stop putting his foot in his mouth. He says great things, like we won World War Two because we spanked our children and that getting rid of "Merry Christmas" is wrong. (When he sells gifts that say "Happy Holidays," instead of "Merry Christmas".)

The book is filled with rants against these people who really put themselves to shame. People who escort children in wheelchairs, who have cerebral palsy and autism, out of a theater for being too loud, but say that their parents can stay.

If you don't like reading about people saying or doing stupid things this book isn't for you. It is an easy and funny read. I highly recommend it.